


Paint Smudges

by LyriaBlackFrost



Series: RyuKita Week 2019 [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Ryukita Week 2019, Swearing, light suggestive content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 09:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17578484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyriaBlackFrost/pseuds/LyriaBlackFrost
Summary: Ryuji wanted Yusuke to have a nice birthday, but things started to go wrong as soon as he decided to buy a present.RyuKita Week Day 2: Birthday





	Paint Smudges

Everything went wrong from the beginning.

The fancy watercolor paints he wanted to buy? Out of stock. The nice shades of gray pens Akira suggested? Gone.

It was the second time they spent Yusuke’s birthday together, and, in the first one, Ryuji simply accompanied his boyfriend to the store and told him to choose whatever he wanted. This year, however, he had the _brilliant_ idea of choosing a gift on his own, and… It was being a nightmare.

“Maybe a new sketchbook?” suggested Ann, who, like Akira, was accompanying him in that painful journey. “There’s a few pretty ones here.”

“He has a pile of sketchbooks already…” answered Ryuji. “Last time, he went and bought a whole box of them. Had to bring him lunch for a whole week so he wouldn’t starve himself.”

“Yeah… Sounds like Yusuke,” said Akira with a chuckle. “Well, how about a few oil paints?”

“But I don’t know which ones he has,” he groaned. “I don’t know shit about art… What even is the difference between acrylic and oil paints?”

Both his friends stared at him for a moment, as he had an internal breakdown.

“Why don’t you give him something else?” suggested Ann. “Something not related to art.”

“But what?” asked Ryuji. “Nothing would make him as happy as this stuff.”

“Give him food,” said Akira. “He’d like that, for sure.”

“I’m already planning to make a cake,” answered Ryuji with a shrug. “But that’s not a gift… I just wanna give him somethin’ that’ll make him happy.”

Akira and Ann exchanged a brief gaze, then approached Ryuji from each side, hugging him between them, Ann gently patting his head.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re such a good boy, Ryuji…” she said.

Ryuji frowned at those words.

“I’m not a fuckin’ dog!”

“You act like one,” said Akira.

“Shuddup!”

Akira chuckled, then turned his attention to those art materials surrounding them. Suddenly, his eyes brightened up.

“Maybe you could give him something more meaningful than store-bought stuff,” he said.

Ann stared at him with suspicion.

“I hope you’re not thinking of something kinky…” she sighed. “Ryuji isn’t like you, you know?”

“How rude!” Akira placed a hand over his chest, widening his eyes in a fake shocked expression that he soon abandoned. “But no, I’m not talking about that.”

“What, then?” asked Ryuji, choosing to ignore that previous implication.

Akira turned his attention to Ryuji, offering him a smile.

“Paint something for him.”

For a moment, Ryuji could do nothing but stare at his friend.

“You kiddin’, right?” he asked.

“Not really,” proceeded Akira. “Yusuke loves art in general, not only _making_ it. If you did something like that for him, I’m sure he’d love it.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Ryuji let out a tired sigh. “You just kinda forgot that I can’t paint for my fuckin’ life.”

“You can try.”

“Akira, it’s his birthday! I can’t just make something half-assed, and throw it at him like that!”

Ann, who had been in a thoughtful silence since Akira made his suggestion, placed a hand on Ryuji’s arm, calling his attention.

“You know, I actually agree with Akira,” she said. “Even if it isn’t perfect, the gesture would already mean a lot.”

Both his best friends looked serious about that idea, and, honestly, Ryuji didn’t know how to react to that. Just the thought of him trying to make anything art-related already sounded… Stupid.

“I don’t know, guys…” he said. “I don’t even know what I need to do it.”

“Leave it to us!” said Ann with a wide smile.

“To _me_ ,” corrected Akira. “Ann’s art-killer aura will probably make your work catch fire. Well, if anything, you’ll at least be better at art than her.”

“That was so unnecessary…” she said.

Akira winked at her, who answered by poking his ribs until he was curling into a giggling ball and begging for forgiveness. Ryuji — who was already more than used to that — simply waited, his mind far from there, already anticipating the disaster that awaited him.

 

* * *

 

 He should have trusted his instincts.

The canvas laying on the floor in front of him was so tragic that Ryuji almost felt like crying only for looking at it. A toddler could probably — certainly — make a better job than whatever the hell he was making: his idea was to paint a simple landscape, which soon turned into a vision of hell, and then, a vision of hell if demons drank too much and started puking colorful paint everywhere.

In other words, it looked terrible.

Ryuji groaned, cursing in a loud voice, needing to gather all of his self-control not to kick the canvas, paints and brush away from him.

“Ryuji?” he heard his mother’s voice outside his bedroom. “Is something wrong?”

“Ah, wait—”

Before he could finish his phrase, Aoi Sakamoto had already opened the door. Her gaze went from her son — sitting on the floor, covered in colored dots — to the thing in front of him, and she furrowed his brow.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Ryuji sighed.

“I’m trying to make Yusuke’s birthday gift,” he explained.

“A painting?” a smile took her face. “That’s so sweet.”

“For real?” Ryuji arched his eyebrow in disbelief. “Did you look at this shit? A two-year-old could do better than this!”

She approached him, crouching on the floor, taking a look at that tragic painting.

“It’s not that bad…” she said. “It just looks like a ten-year-old made it.”

“You’re not helping, y’know?”

“C’mon…” she chuckled. “I gave you eight whole years!”

Ryuji couldn’t help but laugh at that answer. Aoi leaned in his direction, giving him a brief kiss on the temple.

“You shouldn’t expect perfection at the first attempt,” she said. “Yusuke is that good because he’s been doing it forever.”

“I know…” answered Ryuji, lowering his eyes, “But this thing’s so ugly! I should’ve just bought somethin’, instead.”

She hugged his shoulders, lightly caressing his arm.

“You’re too hard on yourself, love,” she said. “Besides, I’m sure Yusuke will be happy to know you’re taking interest in his passion.”

“I guess…”

She offered him a smile, which he soon returned.

“Anyway,” she said, “we should go eat dinner. It’s pretty late already.”

“Okay, just lemme wash my hands.”

Aoi left his room, but, before doing the same, Ryuji looked again at that terrible, disgusting, infuriating piece of garbage. Despite whatever his mom, or his friends had said, there was no way in hell that he could give _that_ to Yusuke… The same Yusuke who could make art so beautiful that made people fall in love instantly.

He suddenly felt like he couldn’t look at that thing for another second, taking it and sliding it under his bed. He could think of what to do with it later… For now, all he wanted was to fill his belly and go to sleep.

 

* * *

 

In the end, he chose to tell Yusuke that he couldn’t find him a gift, and would have to buy it later. Yusuke didn’t mind, but — of course — used that as the perfect excuse to make Ryuji model for him again.

Ryuji waited for Yusuke at the train station close to his home, and, a few minutes later, his boyfriend crossed the turnstile. Yusuke soon spotted him in that empty station, walking in his direction. Ryuji met him halfway, hugging his waist and wishing him a happy birthday.

“You sure you wanna spend the day here?” he asked a little later, as they left the station and walked to the street. “We could go anywhere, y’know?”

“Will you agree to model to me in any other date?”

“Well…”

Yusuke’s smug smile made Ryuji groan.

“Okay, I get it,” he said.

Despite his annoyed tone, he reached for Yusuke’s hand, intertwining their fingers. One year ago, he’d be way too embarrassed to do something like that, or share brief hugs and kisses in public. Now, however, he had learned not to care so much about the gazes they attracted. Well, he was lucky to have such a pretty boyfriend… Why hide it?

They soon reached Ryuji’s house, entering it. Yusuke looked around, probably noticing the silence.

“Isn’t Aoi home?” he asked.

“She’s taking some extra turns on Sundays,” explained Ryuji. “But she’ll be home before evening.”

“I see.”

They went to Ryuji’s room, and before he could say anything, Yusuke was already taking his sketchbook out of his bag.

“Shall we begin?” he asked.

Ryuji stared at him, shaking his head.

“Dude, you don’t waste any time…”

“Precisely,” proceeded Yusuke. “It’s difficult to find models with a musculature as defined as yours.”

“Thanks…?”

“Please, take your shirt off.”

“Now you sound like some weird old guy.”

Despite his words, Ryuji did as he said.

“Man…” he groaned. “This is embarrassing.”

“Should I remind you that I’ve already seen your bare chest countless times before?” asked Yusuke.

“I know, but…”

Not even Ryuji himself knew why that was so embarrassing to him. Something about standing there, half-naked, making weird poses for a long while… As well as having Yusuke’s eyes on him all the time.

“Forget it,” he said.

“Very well.”

Yusuke turned his attention back to his sketch, and Ryuji tried to ignore the hint of amusement in his face.

“Bend your arm a little more,” asked Yusuke, making a gesture with his own arm. “Like this.”

Ryuji did as he said, and Yusuke immediately went back to drawing. He could complain as much as he wanted, but he also couldn’t help but think Yusuke’s passion for his art was cute. At the beginning of their relationship, it kind of bothered him that, sometimes, his boyfriend’s mind seemed to “turn off” from everything but art, including Ryuji himself. But, with time, he learned to accept that was just the way he was, and even started to appreciate that enthusiasm, trying more and more to be part of it as well. Thanks to that, Yusuke started to talk more about his interests with him, and, in exchange, they grew even closer. Of course, Ryuji still sucked at everything art-related, but it never seemed to bother Yusuke. On the contrary: he seemed happy, which was more than enough for Ryuji.

He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he only realized Yusuke had stopped sketching when he was already next to him.

“Yusuke?”

Yusuke stayed quiet, placing a hand on his cheek, caressing it before slowly going down his neck and chest. He leaned in Ryuji’s direction, lips lightly brushing against the skin of his neck. A light smile took Ryuji’s lips.

“Is this part of your drawing thing?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You sure?”

“To be honest, it’s quite difficult to concentrate at the moment.”

Ryuji had to hold back an amused giggle.

“Yeah?”

As a response, Yusuke kissed him right below his ear, making a shiver run through his body.

“Hey, Yusuke—”

Whatever he was going to say, never came out of his mouth. Yusuke joined their lips, and soon there was no room in his mind for anything else but him.

 

* * *

 

It was already the middle of the afternoon when Ryuji went to the kitchen to get the cake. He could have failed at the gift part, but at least that cake looked great: chocolate with strawberry mousse, covered in fresh strawberries and white chocolate rasps. He wasn’t half bad in the kitchen, and that was something he felt proud of.

He made the way back to his room, and, as soon as he entered it, he felt like his heart had stopped: Yusuke was there, beside his bed, carefully holding a canvas in his hands. Noticing Ryuji’s presence, he looked back at him, seeming surprised.

“How did you…?” started to ask Ryuji.

“There were traces of paint on the floor,” answered Yusuke. “I just wanted to see what it was.”

Ryuji inhaled deeply, placing the cake on the table before turning to face Yusuke with serious eyes.

“Give that to me,” he said, extending his hand to Yusuke.

Yusuke took a step back.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Just give that thing to me,” insisted Ryuji.

“Did you paint it?”

Yusuke lowered his eyes to that painting, and Ryuji had to control himself not to jump at him and take that thing by force.

“Don’t look at it!” he said.

“Why not?”

“Just…” Ryuji took a deep breath, trying to calm himself a little. “Just give it to me, okay? I know it looks like shit.”

Yusuke didn’t move, lowering his eyes to the canvas again.

“I didn’t know you had interest in painting…” he said in a low voice. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“’Cause, for some stupid reason, I thought it’d be a nice surprise.”

Yusuke stared at Ryuji, widening his eyes at his words.

“You did it for me?” he asked.

“That was the idea…” Ryuji averted his eyes, a little embarrassed to admit it. “But I’ll buy you something decent next time we go out.”

“Why? This is my gift, isn’t it?”

Ryuji frowned at him.

“You don’t have to keep that thing,” he said. “C’mon, let’s just throw it away.”

Yusuke held the painting a little closer to his chest, still careful not to damage it.

“I refuse!” he said.

“It looks terrible!”

“I love it!”

Ryuji opened his mouth to protest, only to close it again. Yusuke saw that as an opportunity to proceed.

“It was my birthday gift, and I’m telling you I want to keep it to myself.”

Ryuji groaned, knowing he had been defeated.

“It’s so embarrassing…” he muttered.

“Why is it?”

“Do you even need to ask? C’mon… You’re always doing amazing things, and I was dumb enough to think I could do something like this look nice. And now you saw it, and…” he stopped talking, letting out a frustrated _‘fuck’_.

“Ryuji…”

Yusuke lowered his eyes to the painting again, a content smile on his face.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Don’t thank me for that!”

“It’s the best gift someone ever gave me.”

“Stop it…”

“It’s true.”

Yusuke approached him, contouring his hairline with his fingers, before placing a kiss in his forehead. It was so earnest and sweet that Ryuji felt like his heart was melting.

“You’re such a weirdo, y’know?” he muttered.

“You say it quite frequently.”

Ryuji smiled, placing both arms around Yusuke’s waist, resting the head against his chest.

“I’ll try to give you something better next year, okay?” he said.

“We could make one together,” suggested Yusuke. “Or maybe make two separate ones, but depicting the same theme…”

Yusuke kept making suggestions for a while, and he sounded so enthusiastic that Ryuji couldn’t hold back an amused laugh: his boyfriend could be so damn adorable sometimes, without even noticing it…

“Why not?” he said. “Sounds fun.”

“It’s decided, then,” said Yusuke. “May I have some cake?”

It was funny that he would ask, considering the whole thing was his, anyway. But it was Yusuke… And Ryuji was more than used to him by that point.

“Go ahead.”

Yusuke’s face brightened. He hesitated a little before letting go of Ryuji’s painting, as if still expecting him to grab it and set it on fire at any minute. Ryuji reassured he wouldn’t do such a thing, and only then he agreed to keep it resting against the wall for the rest of the day.

As Ryuji thought, the cake was pretty delicious, and seeing Yusuke reacting so enthusiastically about its flavor felt great. He seemed happy, and a big part of it was thanks to him.

_Yusuke was happy with him._

A simple thought, but one that still meant the world to Ryuji.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fic, kudos and comments are highly appreciated! ♥


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